A Darker Side to Power
by EnergyBlastNinjaWriter
Summary: (Tournament of Elements Oneshot) Kai has always had this burning passion inside, and sometimes he can't help but let it out. With such power should be balance, and that includes not only light, but also darkness.


Kai felt the firey passion ignite within himself as he lit his right hand ablaze, feeling the burning sensation between his fingers. To any other person in the _entire world_ , this would be seriously life-threatening, but to Kai, he actually liked it.

Possessing such a _raw power_ in his own two hands was seriously satisfying, and gave him a feeling of power that he actually... _liked._

Kai concentrated the glowing yellow flames into a spherical object, or as Jay would call it, a _fireball._ Either way, it looked seriously awesome. Whipping around, Kai let the flames slip through his gloved fingers as he threw the fireball at his opponent, evidentially hitting a rock wall in the distance as his opponent slid out of the way.

Kai had learned from Garmadon that this particular Elemental Master was named Ash, the Master of Smoke. Ash was particularly snarky, and most of the words that he uttered out of his mouth were either crass or completely unnecessary to the point that most people ignored him. His wild gray hair was spiked up, and his poised grin was almost always plastered against his face. _His stupid grin._

Kai and Ash both exchanged a series of punches and kicks before Kai fired another fireball at his opponent, who once again vanished into a pillar of smoke before reappearing behind Kai and slamming a hard kick into the Fire Master's back.

Kai stumbled a bit before regaining his composure, and his eyes adjusted on the flames that now engulfed the wooden bridge on which the two Elemental Masters fought.

He then shifted his eyes to the burning hot vat of liquid that sat only a few feet beneath the bridge.

 _Lava._

Kai had never been affected by fire in any way before, at least not after he had mastered it. Sometimes he wondered if his body could withstand the even more extreme heat of lava, or if it would still burn him to a crisp like anyone else. He wasn't so keen on finding out.

Ash, in an unexpected turn of events, jumped off of the bridge, startling Kai. This gave Ash the perfect opportunity to "smoke" his way behind Kai once again, and the Master of Smoke pushed his opponent against the rope railing of the bridge, threatening to push Kai over into the lava below.

Kai struggled under Ash's hold, but he was surprised to find that the Master of Smoke actually had a _very_ strong grip. Ash's fingers almost burnt through Kai's shoulders, in the literal sense.

It was then that Kai realized that he and the Master holding him in his grip may have looked quite different, but their elements were very similar. Were they somehow related? He would have to look into that. That is, if the both of them made it out of this fight _alive._

As Kai continued to struggle, he could faintly hear Jay screaming his head off for Kai to burn Ash alive, and Lloyd's encouraging advice, as well as Garmadon's.

Maybe Jay was on to something.

Releasing a power he had locked away for so long, Kai's eyes began to glow and burn like fire, and his entire body slowly became an embodiment of pure fire. Ash's hands were instantly drawn back from the extreme heat. It seemed that even the Master of Smoke couldn't stand the heat that engulfed Kai.

Kai hadn't used his True Potential in a few years, and there really wasn't a reason for it. He just wasn't up to using the intense energy it took to perform this move. But if he was gonna win this fight and find Zane, it was worth every last bit of energy he had in himself.

Just as Kai was about to blast Ash with his fire, he mentally slapped himself as he remembered one of the many useful abilities that his True Potential allowed him.

 _You can fly, airhead._

Kai simply flew right past Ash and towards the jadeblade, which sat idle on a rock near the bridge. That was when Kai was literally blown away by something, or _someone,_ behind him.

As Kai recovered, his eyes focused once again on his opponent, who now was also engulfed in his element, and was very much airborne as well.

Kai had forgotten what Garmadon said.

 _All the other Elemental Masters have unlocked their True Potentials as well._

Well, this was going to make things interesting.

Ash growled as he flew right towards Kai, slamming the Master of Fire into the rock wall behind him, causing Kai to almost fall into the lava, which is what would have happened had Kai not possessed the ability of flight at the moment. Kai blasted a concentrated beam of fire at Ash, sending Ash tumbling back onto the bridge.

As Ash groaned in defeat, his body reverted back to normal, and his element no longer engulfed his body.

Kai flew over to the rock and swung the now obtained jadeblade over his head in victory. He could hear the crowd cheering as Chen announced the winner, but Kai was only focused on one thing.

Just as Ash recovered his composure, the hidden trapdoor below him opened, and the Master of Smoke disappeared into the darkness.

Kai lowered his mask and sighed as he knew that Chen would now have yet another elemental power in his staff. Not only that, but Ash was most definitely _not_ going back home anytime soon.

As Kai walked away from the arena with his teammates congratulating him on his win, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He once again felt the flames engulf his spirit, and he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of power that it gave him.

Over the next few days of the tournament, Kai came to Lloyd with his troubles, and the Green Ninja did all he could to give the older ninja some advice on the matter.

Kai asked Lloyd how, with all the _infinite power_ , he never let it take control, never let it consume him. What Lloyd responded with gave Kai even more questions, but was enough...for now.

"I never _let it_ become infinite. _Everything_ must have a balance. If we didn't have that, the world would be in chaos."

Kai just nodded his head as he brushed off the sudden envy he gained towards Lloyd. The blonde had the power of the _First Spinjitzu Master_ , and he somehow controlled it. Kai sometimes wished he had that kind of will power, that kind of _balance._

And for some reason, Kai continued to allow the power within himself to burn with a passion. And he _liked_ it.

* * *

 **Yay for new oneshots! I suddenly got in a total Tournament of Elements vibe this week, and I have no idea why. I promised one of my readers that my next oneshot would be Kai-centric, so this worked together nicely. Its a lot darker than my other oneshots, but I enjoyed writing it. Speaking of which...**

 **I'm thinking of writing a new story based on the Tournament of Elements, focusing on the actual tournament part of it. This means more fights, more possible Kailor fluff, more intense twists and turns, and** _ **yes,**_ **it will be canon to my other stories and oneshots. Please let me know what you think of this idea, and until then, I'll see you in the next chapter/oneshot.**

 **~EB**


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